Research on Han Nationalism in China in the 2020s (VIII): Five Ideological Tendencies within Han Nationalism and Their Real-World Demands

This article is an exploratory study in the series “Research on Han Nationalism in China in the 2020s.” It examines different ideological tendencies within Han nationalist discourse on the Chinese Internet. Unlike approaches that treat Han nationalism as a single political position, this article argues that contemporary Han nationalism on the Chinese Internet is not a unified movement with a common political program, but a collection of ideological tendencies formed around different real-world problems. Based on long-term observation of relevant online discourse, historical narratives, cultural phenomena, and public discussions, the article identifies five ideal types: establishment Han nationalism, renunciation-oriented Han nationalism, left-wing Han nationalism, cultural Han nationalism, and right-wing Han nationalism. These five tendencies primarily focus, respectively, on policy correction; central–local relations and fiscal responsibility; ethnic and class inequality; Han cultural identity; and population decline and the long-term demographic continuity of the Han. Although they share dissatisfaction with some differentiated ethnic policies and particular historical narratives, they differ substantially in their explanations of the causes of these problems and in their proposed solutions. Some of their demands also overlap with left-wing politics, liberalism, or regional autonomy. Han nationalism therefore cannot simply be equated with nationalism in the conventional right-wing sense. Its internal political demands in fact reflect real tensions in Chinese society concerning employment, working conditions, fiscal pressure, regional governance, population decline, marriage and fertility, and cultural identity. This article does not attempt to estimate the actual social size of these tendencies. Instead, it treats the five categories as analytical ideal types for understanding internal differences within Chinese Internet Han nationalism in the 2020s.